Lafayette Beats Yale 31-14 on Rainy Saturday at Yale Bowl

Larry Abare. (photo by Kevin McCarthy)

Oct 03, 2009

Leopards Overcome Early Yale Touchdown for Win

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Yale got the start it wanted
Saturday afternoon against Lafayette, forcing a Leopard fumble on
the opening kickoff that set up a Bulldog touchdown 3:22 into the
game. But Lafayette responded by reeling off 24 straight points
between the start of the second quarter and the start of the
fourth, eventually coming away with a 31-14 win on a rainy day at
the Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field.

Junior wide receiver Peter Balsam started and finished Yale's
first scoring drive, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff
(forced by strong safety Larry Abare) at the Lafayette 26 and
then catching a three-yard bullet in the end zone from sophomore
quarterback Patrick Witt six plays later.

But after that Lafayette began taking control of the clock and
the game. A roughing the punter call against the Bulldogs gave
Lafayette (3-1, 1-0 Patriot League) a first down on fourth-and-14
early in the second quarter. The Leopards eventually came away with
a 31-yard field goal from Davis Rodriguez. That scoring drive
lasted 7:06 and included 18 plays, one of three drives on the day
for Lafayette that lasted longer than five minutes.

"That was very frustrating," said senior linebacker Tim Handlon,
who finished the day with 10 tackles (second only to Abare's 11).
"After the two games before this we were not used to that. We try
to get off the field quickly."

The Bulldogs' defense did get off the field quickly on one drive
late in the second quarter. After Lafayette strong safety Eric
McGovern intercepted a tipped ball at the Lafayette 47, the
Leopards tried going deep on first down. But junior
cornerback Adam Money nabbed the pass from Rob Curley at the Yale
10 and returned it to the 17.

The Bulldogs were unable to take advantage of the turnover, and
even though senior placekicker/punter Tom Mante pinned Lafayette at
its own 18 with 2:29 to play the Leopards were able to score just
before halftime. The big play was a 46-yard over-the-shoulder catch
down the right sideline by receiver Mark Layton. That got the ball
to the Yale 17, and on the next play Curley hit Layton on a slant
pattern into the end zone for a 10-7 lead.

Yale did get the ball back at the 50 with 1:01 to play thanks to
a 37-yard kickoff return by freshman receiver Chris Smith, but the
Bulldogs could not get a first down and had to punt.

"I thought the turning point of the game was their ability to
score before halftime, and our inability to do the same," said Tom
Williams, Yale's Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Football. "Then,
in the second half, they wore us down running the football."

Lafayette extended its lead at 6:13 of the third when, after a
fake handoff, receiver Greg Stripe grabbed the ball from Curley and
took it into the end zone from six yards out. The Leopards added
another touchdown catch by Layton, this one a four-yarder, on the
first play of the fourth quarter to go up 24-7.

Junior quarterback Brook Hart, who has been battling with Witt
for the starting job, came on for his third drive of the day midway
through the fourth and got Yale back on the scoreboard. He
completed eight of nine passes, utilizing five different receivers,
to drive the Bulldogs 90 yards. The last play was a nicely thrown
ball to junior wide receiver Jordan Forney for a sliding catch in
the end zone with 4:30 left in the game.

Lafayette recovered the onside kick, however, and drove 40 yards
for a touchdown to put the game out of reach. Tailback Maurice
White's six-yard run made it 31-14 with 3:13 to play.

The Bulldogs had held their previous nine opponents to 14 or
fewer points, but the combination of Curley (20-for-28, 241 yards,
2 TDs) and Layton (seven catches, 116 yards) proved tough to stop.

"[Layton] is really good right off the line of scrimmage," said
Money. "He's tough to press. He's quick, and he's also a good
possession receiver with solid hands."

Yale (1-2, 0-1 Ivy League) hosts Dartmouth next Saturday; the
Bulldogs are looking for their defense to return to form and for
their offense to build off the late 90-yard touchdown drive.

"I feel it's a good little spark for our team," Hart said of the
touchdown drive. "But we've got to put it together for four
quarters."